Bill to expand WSMR heads to full Senate

SANTA FE >> A bipartisan bill to expand White Sands Missile Range cleared a U.S. Senate committee Thursday. It goes next to the full Senate for consideration.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said the bill would transfer 5,100 acres from the Bureau of Land Management to the Army.

This land would be a safety and security buffer to NASA's White Sands Test Facility and the Department of Defense's Aerospace Data Facility-Southwest. Both are tenants of White Sands Missile Range.

Heinrich is sponsoring the bill with Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and John Cornyn, R-Texas. It advanced from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Another facet of the proposal would transfer 2,050 acres in Fillmore Canyon from the Army to the BLM to create a boundary that is more clear to the public, thereby preventing accidental trespass onto Fort Bliss.

In addition, the bill would prohibit the BLM from selling, exchanging or developing 35,550 acres to prevent incompatible development near the Fort Bliss Doña Ana Range Complex and Training Areas. They include some of the Army's large weapons system firing ranges and artillery firing boxes.

This land would still be accessible to the public for recreation, grazing, transportation and other existing uses, Heinrich said.

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"This expansion to White Sands Missile Range is critical to strengthening its vital national security mission," Heinrich said in a statement. "Establishing safety, security and planning buffers at White Sands and Fort Bliss will also provide predictability for these two military installations and the communities that surround them."

Milan Simonich, Santa Fe Bureau chief of Texas-New Mexico Newspapers, can be reached at 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com.